Mapping circuits

ABSTRACT

Multiple modules are installed, with each module installed in one of multiple outlets to be mapped. A probe is triggered to propagate a signal that provides circuit information at one of multiple circuit interrupts, where the signal is detectable by any of the modules connected by a single circuit to the one circuit interrupt from which the signal is propagated. The circuit information is retrieved from any of the modules that detected the signal as an indication that the modules from which the circuit information is retrieved are connected to the single circuit.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to the field of electrical power and moreparticularly to a system method and program product for mappingelectrical circuits.

BACKGROUND

Electricians typically require a variety of information about outletsbefore performing work on them, such as replacing an outlet, adding anew outlet to a circuit, and other electrical work. An electrician mightuse a variety of tools to acquire the necessary information. Thisinformation may include the circuit number that an outlet is on, andpossibly the outlet number and other information such as voltage,amperage, polarity, and the like. The electrician might also like tocollect information such as the amount of power consumed over a periodof time, voltage peaks, and other relevant electrical information aboutthe outlet and/or the circuit.

Circuits are currently mapped using one of two methods. The first methodis to flip the switches on a circuit breaker while a second person waitsin a room where an outlet (or switch) is located with a light or otherload on the outlet. The second person yells when the light or other loadgoes out due to loss of power, indicating that the switch just flippedis for the circuit that the outlet is on. The second person then movesthe light or other load to another outlet, and the process is repeated.This approach requires no technology, but it is very time consuming. Inolder houses or other buildings, all of the outlets in a room may not beon the same circuit, since electricians or homeowners adding additionalservice might just tap the nearest wire rather than trying to tap thecircuit that corresponds to the other outlets in the same room.Moreover, this approach requires two people to be practical. Also, thismethod does not provide information about voltage, amperage, polarity,power consumption, voltage peaks or any other characteristic that mightbe relevant.

A second method that is currently used for mapping electrical circuitscomprises a commercially available device used to map one outlet at atime. This method comprises using a device that sends a signal over theelectrical wiring from an outlet to the circuit breaker. The electricianthen moves a detector over the circuit breakers in a circuit box untilit picks up the signal as it passes over the correct circuit breaker.The device typically lights up or emits a tone to indicate that thesignal is picked up and that the current circuit breaker corresponds tothe circuit for the outlet being tested. While this second approach candetect a circuit for one outlet, it is not practical for multipleoutlets on multiple circuits. This is because the detectors do notdifferentiate between the signals sent from two different signalmodules. Thus, if an electrician was to plug in multiple modules, andthey were on different circuits, there would be no way to differentiatebetween the modules/outlets.

A method for collecting information about different outlets andconsolidating the information into a hand-held computer is described inU.S. Pat. No. 7,057,401. This approach allows a technician to collectsignals from multiple modules in parallel, but this approach iscumbersome, requiring that the outlets and circuit box be connected byan additional wire (“umbilical cord”) that needs to be carried aroundthe worksite. Moreover, this approach is expensive, due to the computerand the umbilical cord.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,466,029 provides a method for detecting the correctcircuit interrupt device for a particular circuit by applying a signalgenerator at an outlet and sweeping a signal detector over circuitinterrupt devices. This method only allows for one to one correlation ofan outlet and a fuse or circuit breaker. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No.5,493,206 provides a method and apparatus for determining a group towhich a connection point forming part of an electrical installationbelongs by installing a detector in place of a fuse and generating asignal at a connection point. This method is limited by the scalabilityof the number of connections that can be made simultaneously to the fusebox.

A method for determining which outlet is closer to a circuit breaker isdescribed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,352,985. In this method a device measures avoltage drop over a wiring loop between neutral and earth contactterminals. This approach, however, only tells the electrician about therelative proximity to the circuit breaker after he knows that they areon the same circuit.

In addition to circuit detection, there are devices that can collectother types of information such as voltage, polarity, etc., but they aretypically specialized so that multiple tools and some manual steps arerequired to completely map out the outlets and their characteristics andto relate them to circuits in the breaker box.

Currently, keeping track of outlets to circuit relationships on a largescale requires significant manual work. Relating the circuitidentification for each outlet to the map requires manual work. Relatingcircuit identifications to the circuit box requires manual work. Also,each time a measurement is taken to provide information like voltage,etc; manual work is required to relate the information to the outlets ona map. Moreover, current mapping methods do not relate a circuit boxrepresentation and a floor plan to provide a comprehensive circuit map.

SUMMARY

A method, apparatus and program product are provided for mappingelectrical circuits. According to an exemplary embodiment, a userprovides an electronic record of one or more rooms with outlets to bemapped and installs a module in each outlet to be mapped. Using aninteractive program, the user prepares a diagram of a circuit box. Theuser triggers a probe to propagate a signal detectable by said modulesover a circuit and to provide circuit information. The user retrievesthe circuit information from the modules. Then, the interactive programassociates the circuit information from each module with a correspondingoutlet on said electronic record of one or more rooms.

The apparatus, according to an exemplary embodiment, comprises a probe,a computer operably associated with the probe, one or more modulesinstalled in outlets to be mapped, and a program of instruction executedby the computer. The probe is adapted to send a signal over a selectedcircuit and provide circuit information, including circuitidentification. The modules have a connector for electrically connectingto an outlet, logic interconnected with the connector detecting thesignal and receiving the circuit information, and an indicatorinterconnected with the logic presenting the circuit information inresponse to the signal. The computer is operably associated with theprobe and configured to execute the program of instructions to provide abreaker box representation and a electronic record of one or more roomsshowing outlet symbols identifying the location of outlets and tocollect the circuit information from the one or more modules andassociate the circuit information with a corresponding breaker on thebreaker box representation and on outlet symbols on the electronicrecord of one or more rooms of one or more rooms.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The features and advantages of the invention will be more clearlyunderstood from the following detailed description of the preferredembodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawing.Included in the drawing are the following figures:

FIGS. 1A and 1B are block diagrams of a computer and probe and a module,respectively of a system for mapping electrical circuits according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a front view of a circuit box or breaker box showing a probeover a breaker switch to send a signal over a circuit according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a representation of the breaker box of FIG. 2 according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a representation of a floor plan showing outlets and theirassociated circuits according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of a method for mapping electrical circuitsaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of a method for adding outlets to a floor planfor mapping electrical circuits according to an exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of a method for creating a representation of acircuit breaker box for mapping electrical circuits according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of a method for adding outlet information tooutlet designations on a floor plan for mapping electrical circuitsaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

According to an exemplary embodiment, the present invention provides amethod, apparatus and program product for mapping electrical circuits.As shown in FIG. 1, an exemplary apparatus comprises a computer 100executing a program of instruction 122 and a probe 180 interconnected tothe computer 100.

The computer 100 may be a personal computer (PC) a hand held computingdevice such as a personal digital assistant (PDA) or any other computeror computing device suitable for executing an interactive program ofinstruction 122 and displaying representations of a breaker box 124 anda floor plan 126 or other record of one or more rooms.

In an exemplary embodiment, computer 100 comprises a processing unit 110interconnected with a memory 120. Processing unit 110 and memory 120 maybe interconnected through a bus 130 or any other suitable means forelectronic interconnection. A display 140 and one or more input/outputdevices 150 may also be interconnected with the processing unit 110. Thedisplay may be an integral display or a separate componentinterconnected to the processing unit either directly or through bus130. The display 140 may be, for example, a liquid crystal display orany other display suitable for presenting a representation of a breakerbox and a floor plan. Input/output devices 150 may comprise a keypad,mouse and/or any other device suitable for entering data into computer100.

The program of instruction 122 may be stored on memory 120 asillustrated in FIG. 1. Alternatively the program of instruction may beretrieved from a memory device such disc, flash drive or other media orit may be retrieved over a network or the like. Similarly,representations of the breaker box 124 and the floor plan 126 may bestored in memory 120, on another memory (not shown), or remotely.

The illustrated exemplary apparatus also has a probe 180 interconnectedto the processing unit 110 either directly or through bus 130 or thelike. Probe 180 comprises a tip 182 configured to electrically couple toa breaker in a breaker box to propagate a signal over an electricalcircuit. The probe 180 may be electrically coupled to the circuits byinduction. Alternatively, direct physical contact may be made betweenthe probe and the circuit, or the probe may communicate through a wiredor wireless connection to a third device connected to the circuit.

The probe 180 also comprises a signal generator 184 which generates asignal that can be detected on an electrical circuit at an outlet orother connection point, such as a switch. The signal may be, forexample, a frequency change, modulation, one or more pulses, datapackets, timing, a generic signal that causes a module to generate atime stamp, or any other signal suitable for propagation over anelectrical circuit and provision of a means of identification. Thesignal generated by signal generator 184 may be set by control mechanism186. Signal control mechanism 186 may be for example up and down buttonsinterconnected to a microprocessor configured to create a data packetcontaining various numbers, such as 1 through 16, corresponding todifferent circuits. In an alternate embodiment, the signal control maybe provided in computer 100 with the computer electrically connected toprobe 180 through a connector 160. In another alternate embodiment thesignal generator may be in computer 100 and the signal may betransmitted to probe 180 through a connector 160. In yet anotherexemplary embodiment, probe 180 may be wirelessly connected withcomputer 100.

By means of the electrical coupling with an electrical circuit, theprobe propagates a signal through the tip 182 and over the wiring of theelectrical circuit. Modules 190 (as shown in FIG. 1A) are electricallycoupled to the electrical circuit, such as by being plugged into outletson the electrical circuit being probed. The modules 190 comprise aconnector 192 adapted to electrically couple to a circuit. In theillustrated exemplary embodiment, connector 192 is a male electricalplug adapted to mate with a standard electrical outlet. In alternativeembodiments, the connector may be adapted to couple to other points inan electrical circuit, such as a switch by means of inductance, forexample.

The modules 190 also comprise an indicator 196 which may be one or morelight emitting diodes (LEDs) a display, an RF transmitter, or any othermeans suitable for presenting or transmitting an indication that asignal has been received. According to an exemplary embodiment, theindication provided by indicator 196 comprises an identification of thecircuit conveyed in the signal. For example, indicator 196 may display anumeral corresponding to a circuit that was conveyed in the signalpropagated from the probe 180. Alternatively, indicator 196 may comprisea plurality of LEDs corresponding to various circuits and an LED whereinan LED corresponding to a circuit and the signal is illuminated.According to another alternative embodiment, indicator 196 may be an RFtransmitter transmitting data corresponding to an identificationconveyed in the propagated signal. For example, if the signal ispropagated on the circuit of a first breaker, the signal might comprisea modulation, data packet, etc corresponding to or containing thenumber 1. The indicator might then be an RF transmitter transmitting adata packet containing the number 1. An LED may indicate that the outlethas been mapped using a transmission such as an RF transmission.

The modules 190 may also comprise logic 194 which may comprise anycombination of hardware and software adapted to differentiate thepropagated signal and cause a corresponding indication at indicator 196.Logic 194 may be, for example, a microprocessor programmed to identifyone of various signals and send data corresponding to the signal to theindicator 196 to be displayed.

According to an exemplary embodiment, a receiver 170 is connected tocomputer 100 through a connector 160. If the indicator is an RFtransmitter, for example, receiver 170 may be an RF receiver adapted toreceive the RF transmission of a signal identification, such as a numbercorresponding to the circuit on which the signal is propagated.Alternatively, the indicator may be a display programmed to display abar code corresponding to the identification in the propagated signal,and the receiver 170 may be a bar code scanner. Thus, the receiver 170may be used to provide information from modules about the propagatedsignal to the program of instruction 122.

As shown in FIG. 2, probe 180 is placed in position over a circuitbreaker 216 in circuit breaker box 200. The probe is set to a signalcorresponding to the corresponding circuit 218. This may beaccomplished, for example, by pressing control buttons 186 until anindicia 16 corresponding to the selected circuit breaker 216 isdisplayed on a display 185. A trigger mechanism 187, such as a sendbutton is activated to cause the signal generator 184 to propagate asignal through tip 182 (see FIG. 1A) into the electrical circuit 218 ofthe chosen circuit breaker 216 to outlets 216A, 216B, and 216C and intomodules 190 plugged into the outlets 216A, 216B, 216C. The signal isreceived and identified by modules 190 causing each module 190 on thechosen circuit to display an indicia 16 on indicator 193. Similarly, theindicia 14 is displayed on a module 190 plugged into outlet 214corresponding to the circuit breaker for the circuit 219 of outlet 214.

Program of instruction 122, when executed by processor 110, creates arepresentation 124 of a circuit breaker box 200. This representation 124indicates the breakers present in the breaker box 200 and correspondingindicia (e.g., 1-16). Main switch A, 220 volt breakers (not shown), andany double switches (not shown) are also indicated. According to anexemplary embodiment, program of instruction 122 guides a user throughthe process of creating representation 124 through questions presentedin a dialog box or the like. The process of creating the representationwill be described in detail below.

Program of instruction 122 also collects data from modules 190 after oneor more signals have been propagated over the various circuitscorresponding to breakers 1-16 in circuit box 200. This data may then bepresented on a floor plan 126 of one or more rooms having outlets and/orswitches on electrical circuits of interest. The floor plan 126 may beretrieved from a blueprint uploaded from a data storage device, createdfrom a rough sketch scanned into computer 100, created through use of acomputer aided drafting (CAD) program, or any other suitable means forproviding a layout of one or more rooms and the outlets and/or switchestherein.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a methodis provided for mapping electrical circuits. A floor plan 126 isretrieved or provided as described above. A user then physically locatesoutlets and/or switches of interest (step 510). For example, the usermay look in one or more rooms where electrical work is to be performed.

The user indicates the locations of the outlets and or switches on thefloor plan 126 (step 520). This may be accomplished, for example, byprogram of instruction 122 providing a menu having a locate outletfunction. The user selects the locate outlet function from the menu andperforms a function such as a right mouse click to add an outlet symbolonto the floor plan at the designated location. Alternatively, an outletsymbol may be placed on the floor plan using a click and drag techniqueor any other means suitable for placing a symbol onto a graphical image.

The user creates a representation 124 of a circuit breaker box 200 forthe building/rooms to be mapped (step 530). According to an exemplaryembodiment, the representation 124 is created interactively using theprogram of instruction 122. This may be accomplished, for example, bythe user providing a few simple parameters to the program of instruction122. These parameters may include, for example, the number of columns ofcircuit breakers or fuses in the breaker box 200 and how many breakerswitches are in each column. The program of instruction 122 may providequestions through a dialog box or provide a menu of options for enteringthe parameters. The user adjusts the representation 124 to identifyadditional parameters such as 220 volt breaker switches, doubleswitches, unused slots, and the like. The program of instruction 122 mayprompt the user to identify 220 volt breakers, double switches, andunused slots, or the user may select these parameters from a menu or anyother means for identifying parameters of the breaker box 200 andindicating them on the representation 124 may be used. For example, asshown in FIG. 3, the program of instruction 122 may show a firstrepresentation 301 for a first circuit breaker, a second representation302 for a second circuit breaker, and similarly show representations foreach other circuit breaker in the breaker box 200 on representation 124of the circuit box 200.

The user then electrically couples modules 190 with outlets and/orswitches to be mapped (step 540). According to an exemplary embodiment,the modules 190 have connectors 192 are a male electrical plug which canbe coupled with an outlet by inserting the connector into the outlet.The modules comprise a means for identifying the circuit that they areon. According to an exemplary embodiment, this means may comprise anindicator 196 which may be a display, for example, displaying anindicia, such as a number corresponding to the circuit that the moduleis connected to, further corresponding to the numbering of a breakerswitch in the breaker box representation 124. The module 196 may acquirethis number from the propagated signal. Each signal, as described abovemay contain a data packet comprising the circuit number for the circuiton which the signal was propagated, or the signal may be a signalpredefined to correspond to a specific number propagated on the circuitcorresponding to that number.

Alternatively, the circuit number may be stored in a memory (not shown)in module 190, and then retrieved by program of instruction 122.According to yet another alternative embodiment, each module 190 maycomprise a clock synchronized with the other modules 190 and a clock incomputer 100 or probe 180. The clock stops when the module receives asignal. The circuit may then be determined by matching the time on thestopped clock with the clock in the computer 100 or probe 180. Thecircuit number can then be determined by which signal was propagated atthe time when the clock stopped.

The user sets the probe 180 to a first signal and couples the probe 180to a first circuit (step 550). The probe 180 may be set to a firstsignal of a plurality of different signals by triggering controlmechanism 186, or by any other means suitable for selecting and settinga specific signal, as described above. The probe 180 as described aboveis electrically coupled to a first electrical circuit by contact,inductance or any other suitable means.

The probe 180 is triggered (step 560), propagating the first signal overthe first electrical circuit. The probe may be triggered by a triggeringmechanism (not shown) on the probe itself, by a command from computer100, or by any other means suitable for causing the probe to propagate asignal over an electrical circuit. The signal may contain anidentification within the signal, such as by use of a data packet, or amodulation or other signal predefined to correspond to a specificcircuit. Alternatively, the signal may be a generic signal causingmodules 190 to record a timestamp or other indication. According toanother alternative embodiment, a generic signal propagated over anelectrical circuit may be accompanied by another signal containing anidentification that is broadcast in another way, such as an RF signal orthe like.

Optionally, the probe 190 may be set to a second signal and positionedto couple with another electrical circuit (step 570). Then anothersignal may be propagated over the second electrical circuit (step 570).Program of instruction 122 may query the user after each signal ispropagated whether to continue or end signal propagation (step 580). Ifthe user indicates another circuit (or the program of instructiondetermines that there is another circuit based on the representation ofthe breaker box), then the program of instruction repeats steps 570 and580. Optionally, program of instruction 122 may provide directionsguiding the user through the steps of setting and propagating signals.

When signals have been propagated on each electrical circuit to bemapped, the user then collects data from the modules 190. First the userindicates which outlet (or switch) a module 190 is electrically coupledto (step 590). This may be accomplished for example by touching theoutlet on the floor plan 126 on a touch screen interface. Alternatively,a mouse or other input device may be used to indicate the outlet.Optionally, program of instruction 122 may direct the user to indicatethe outlet.

Once the correct outlet is indicated, the user inputs data from a module190 in the indicated outlet into the program of instruction 122 (step592). The data may comprise a circuit number or other circuitidentification. The data may also comprise additional data such as peakvoltage over a period of time, signal strength (which may be used tocalculate distance or relative distance from the circuit breaker), andother useful electrical parameters. The program of instruction 122 thenpresents the data on floor plan 126.

The data may be input by any of a variety of methods. According to anexemplary embodiment, the data may be read off of an indicator 196 onthe module 190 and manually input into the program of instruction 122,such as through a keyboard. Alternatively, the indicator 196 may providean RFID signal or a bar code, and the data may be input by anappropriate receiver 170 connected to computer 100. In the examples ofRFID and bar code, receiver 170 may be an RF receiver or bar codereader, respectively. According to an exemplary embodiment, receiver 170is integral with probe 180.

FIG. 6 shows a method for adding outlets to a floor plan for mappingelectrical circuits according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention. The program of instruction receives a floor plan (step 610).As described above, the floor plan may be imported, created using a CADor other graphics program, or scanned in from a rough sketch.

Next, the program of instruction receives an indication of an outletlocation (step 620). As described above, this step may be accomplishedby using a mouse, keyboard or other input device and may be menu driven.A user may add outlets to a specified location by picking and placing,dragging or any other technique for indicating where a graphic is to beplaced.

In response to the indication of outlet location, the program ofinstruction 122 adds an outlet symbol 411-420 (in FIG. 4) to theindicated location (step 630). The program of instruction thendetermines whether or not there are more outlets to be mapped (step635). This determination may be made by whether or not the userindicates another outlet or by the user's response to a query of whetheror not there are additional outlets to be mapped, for example. If thereare more outlets, then steps 620 and 630 are repeated for eachadditional outlet. If there are no additional outlets, the routine foradding outlets ends.

FIG. 7 shows a program routine for creating a representation of acircuit breaker box for mapping electrical circuits according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention. The program ofinstructions 122 initiates a breaker box routine (step 710). This may beperformed in response to a user selecting from a menu, in response tocompletion of a previous operation, or by any other suitable means.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the program of instructions 122queries the user on the number of breaker switches (step 720). The querymay be made in a dialog box or any other means suitable for retrievingdata from a user. Upon receiving a numerical input of the number ofbreaker switches from the user, the program of instruction 122 displaysone or more templates corresponding to the input number of breakerswitches (step 730). The program of instruction 122 then receives atemplate selection from the user (step 740) and displays the selectedtemplate (step 750). The user may select a template by a mouse clickwhile hovering over a template or by any other means suitable forselecting from a group of images.

The program of instruction 122 may then allow the user to make userinitiated or menu driven adjustments to the selected template. Accordingto an exemplary embodiment, the program of instruction queries the userwhether or not there are any 220 volt circuits (step 760). Alternativelythe user may initiate this determination using a drag down menu, forexample. The user may indicate each 220 volt circuit by a mouse clickwhile hovering on the breakers in the representation 124 or any othersuitable selection means. In response to the user selection, a 220 voltsymbol is inserted in the representation 124 at the indicated location(step 764).

Similarly, the program of instruction 122 may query the user whether ornot there are any double switches (step 770), and if the user indicatesdouble switches, the program of instruction inserts a double switchsymbol at the designated location (step 774). The program of instruction122 may also query the user whether or not there are any unused switches(step 780), and if the user indicates unused switches, the program ofinstruction inserts an unused switch symbol at the designated location(step 784).

Alternatively, the user may initiate the adjustments by hovering over aswitch that is a 220 volt switch, a double switch, a GFCI switch, asurge protected switch, or any other enhanced function switch or unusedswitch. In response, the program of instruction 122 may provide a dialogbox or menu allowing the user to select the appropriate adjustment. Inresponse to the selection, the program of instruction 122 may insert theappropriate symbol at the present location.

FIG. 8 shows a method for collecting data from the one or more modules190. The program of instruction 122 opens the floor plan 126 in responseto a user input or completion of propagating signals or any othersuitable event (step 810). The floor plan is displayed on a monitor ordisplay 140 of computer 100. In this embodiment, outlets are alreadylocated on the floor plan 126.

The user identifies an outlet on the floor plan 126 (step 814).According to an exemplary embodiment, the user approaches an outlet witha module 190 coupled to it. The user then indicates the correspondingoutlet on the floor plan 126. The user may for example hover over thecorresponding outlet on the floor plan 126 and indicate the outlet witha mouse click or other suitable identification means. The program ofinstruction 122 receives the outlet identification (step 820).

The user then inputs data from the module 190 into the program ofinstruction 122. This may be accomplished by manually entering datadisplayed in an indicator 196 of the module 190. Alternatively, the datamay be input by RFID, bar code, or other suitable input device asdescribed above. The program of instruction 122 receives the outlet data(step 830). Then, the program of instruction updates the floor plan 126by inserting the outlet data (step 840).

After the floor plan is updated, the program of instruction determineswhether or not there are any additional outlets with modules 190. If so,the program product repeats steps 814 through 840 for the next outletwith a module 190. If not the program of instruction ends with a floorplan 126 and breaker box representation 124 that identify the variouscircuits that have been mapped and provide data for each mapped outlet.

According to an alternative exemplary embodiment, the modules 190 have aglobal positioning satellite system (GPS) 198 embedded in them and thedata collection process is automated using the GPS 198. In thisembodiment, each module may have a unique identification, such as aserial number and may transmit its location and data.

The invention can take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, anentirely software embodiment or an embodiment containing both hardwareand software elements. In an exemplary embodiment, the invention isimplemented in software, which includes but is not limited to firmware,resident software, microcode, etc.

Furthermore, the invention may take the form of a computer programproduct accessible from a computer-usable or computer-readable mediumproviding program code for use by or in connection with a computer orany instruction execution system or device. For the purposes of thisdescription, a computer-usable or computer readable medium may be anyapparatus that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transportthe program for use by or in connection with the instruction executionsystem, apparatus, or device.

The foregoing method may be realized by a program product comprising amachine-readable media having a machine-executable program ofinstructions, which when executed by a machine, such as a computer,performs the steps of the method. This program product may be stored onany of a variety of known machine-readable media, including but notlimited to compact discs, floppy discs, USB memory devices, and thelike. Moreover, the program product may be in the form of a machinereadable transmission such as blue ray, HTML, XML, or the like.

The medium can be an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic,infrared, or semiconductor system (or apparatus or device) or apropagation medium. Examples of a computer-readable medium include asemiconductor or solid state memory, magnetic tape, a removable computerdiskette, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), arigid magnetic disk an optical disk. Current examples of optical disksinclude compact disk-read only memory (CD-ROM), compact disk-read/write(CD-R/W) and DVD.

The preceding description and accompanying drawing are intended to beillustrative and not limiting of the invention. The scope of theinvention is intended to encompass equivalent variations andconfigurations to the full extent of the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for mapping outlets, the methodcomprising the steps of: installing multiple modules, where each moduleis installed in one of a plurality of outlets to be mapped; triggering aprobe to propagate a signal that provides circuit information at one ofa plurality of circuit interrupts, where the signal is detectable by anyof the modules connected by a single circuit to one circuit interruptfrom which the signal is propagated; and retrieving the circuitinformation from any of the modules that detected the signal as anindication that the modules from which the circuit information isretrieved are connected to the single circuit.
 2. The method of claim 1,further comprising associating the circuit information from each modulethat detected the signal with a corresponding outlet on an electronicrecord of one or more rooms that depict the plurality of outlets to bemapped.
 3. The method of claim 1, where the triggering step is repeatedfor one or more additional circuits.
 4. The method of claim 1, where theretrieving step comprises selecting a module corresponding to an outleton an electronic record of one or more rooms and retrieving the circuitinformation from the module using an RFID receiver.
 5. The method ofclaim 1, where the circuit information comprises a circuit identifierand is embedded in the signal.
 6. The method of claim 1, where thecircuit information comprises one or more characteristics of the singlecircuit obtained from measurements made by one of the modules.
 7. Themethod of claim 6, where the circuit information further comprises oneor more characteristics of the single circuit obtained from a circuitbox diagram.
 8. A system for mapping outlets, comprising: a probe; and acomputer operably associated with the probe and programmed to: triggerthe probe to propagate a signal that provides circuit information at oneof a plurality of circuit interrupts, where each module of a pluralityof modules is installed in one of a plurality of outlets to be mappedand where the signal is detectable by any of the plurality of modulesconnected by a single circuit to one circuit interrupt from which thesignal is propagated; and retrieve the circuit information from any ofthe modules that detected the signal as an indication that the modulesfrom which the circuit information is retrieved are connected to thesingle circuit.
 9. The system of claim 9, where the computer is furtherprogrammed to associate the circuit information from each module thatdetected the signal with a corresponding outlet on an electronic recordof one or more rooms that depict the plurality of outlets to be mapped.10. The system of claim 9, where the computer is further programmed torepeat the triggering of the probe for one or more additional circuits.11. The system of claim 9, where in being programmed to retrieve thecircuit information, the computer is programmed to select a modulecorresponding to an outlet on an electronic record of one or more roomsand retrieve the circuit information from the module using an RFIDreceiver.
 12. The system of claim 9, where the circuit informationcomprises a circuit identifier and is embedded in the signal.
 13. Thesystem of claim 9, where the circuit information comprises one or morecharacteristics of the single circuit obtained from measurements made byone of the modules, and the circuit information further comprises one ormore characteristics of the single circuit obtained from a circuit boxdiagram.
 14. A program product comprising a computer readable storagedevice having encoded thereon a computer executable program ofinstruction comprising: first program instructions that trigger a probeto propagate a signal that provides circuit information at one of aplurality of circuit interrupts, where each module of a plurality ofmodules is installed in one of a plurality of outlets to be mapped andwhere the signal is detectable by any of the plurality of modulesconnected by a single circuit to one circuit interrupt from which thesignal is propagated; and second program instructions that retrieve thecircuit information from any of the modules that detected the signal asan indication that the modules from which the circuit information isretrieved are connected to the single circuit.
 15. The program productof claim 14, further comprising third program instructions thatassociate the circuit information from each module that detected thesignal with a corresponding outlet on an electronic record of one ormore rooms that depict the plurality of outlets to be mapped.
 16. Theprogram product of claim 14, where the first program instructions thattrigger the probe further comprise additional program instructions thatrepeat the triggering of the probe for one or more additional circuits.17. The program product of claim 14, where second program instructionsthat retrieve the circuit information comprise additional programinstructions that select a module corresponding to an outlet on anelectronic record of one or more rooms and retrieve the circuitinformation from the module using an RFID receiver.
 18. The programproduct of claim 14, where the circuit information comprises a circuitidentifier and is embedded in the signal.
 19. The program product ofclaim 14, where the circuit information comprises one or morecharacteristics of the single circuit obtained from measurements made byone of the modules.
 20. The program product of claim 19, where thecircuit information further comprises one or more characteristics of thesingle circuit obtained from a circuit box diagram.